Stock Exchange in depressed mood
The London Stock Exchange was in a depressed mood as traders worried over the fate of telecoms and retail stocks.
By the close, the FTSE-100 Index of leading blue-chip stocks was near to its low for the day, off 87 points at 6083.3.
The disappointing finish to the session came despite an upbeat start to trading in the US, with the Dow Jones industrial average moving ahead.
The telecoms sector suffered the heaviest falls - led by the market's biggest stock Vodafone, which slipped 8.50p at 223p.
BT also struggled early on but rallied to finish down 3p at 687p after announcing that it would be buying the rest of German telecom's group Viag Interkom in a £4.6 billion deal.
Cable operator Telewest was off 9p at 128.50p, while Energis was down 28p at 523p and Colt Telecom off 155p at £16.05.
Elsewhere, Woolworths-to-B&Q group Kingfisher bore the brunt of another hectic day for retail stocks.
Shares in Kingfisher plummeted by nearly 10%, after a number of City analysts lowered their full-year profit forecasts for the group.
The biggest Footsie risers were Nycomed up 14.50p at 520p, Celltech Group up 26p at £10.54, Barclays up 52p at £21.45, and Safeway up 7p at 307p.
The biggest fallers were Kingfisher down 48p at 442p, Colt Telecom off 155p at £16.05, ARM Holdings down 41p at 508p and Telewest Communications off 9p at 128.50p.
